Tag Archives: Carla Connor

Sisterhood

If I’d laid a bet on how long Carla would cope with Maria as helpmeet, I’d have lost. Carla lasted longer than I’d expected. But, even so, it wasn’t long.

The scene that made my jaw drop and made me laugh was the two of them in Carla’s living room while Liam cries in his bed. Maria yells “Liam, go to sleep.” Then Carla agrees with her: “Do what you’re told and go to flamin’ sleep”. Well, the icy cold glare of affront that Maria turned on Carla! As in, how dare you yell at my precious babe the chosen one!

To be reasonable, Carla simply said exactly what Maria had said, other than adding the word “flaming” but Carla had forgot the cardinal rule of motherhood (especially in St. Maria’s world) – only the sainted mother may yell at the sainted child. However, motherhood and any kind of kin feeling are rarely reasonable. I know that I feel within my rights to tell my dogs to shut up. Still, I don’t like it when someone else does.

Carla brushed off yelling at the sainted child, without pointing out that she’d only followed Maria’s lead. But it escalated of course. Maria can always make it all about her and she did so once again. With incredible sanctimoniousness she said, “I realize you’re in a lot of pain. But taking it out on Liam isn’t going to help.” Ya think? Just been raped, and a child screaming his lungs out? So Carla told Maria that she’d been there long enough, get out now.

It was harsh, especially the business about living in the lap of luxury at Carla’s apartment compared to Maria’s own “flea-pit”. But Carla is angry and needs to vent that anger at someone and Maria was handy. Carla was also half in the bag and probably fed up to her eyeteeth with Maria being around all the time. Just the thought of Maria being there with me all the time, being comforting, dispensing wisdom – aaagghh! I am surprised only that their moment of sisterhood lasted as long as it did.

St. Maria has returned, after Carla’s attempt at suicide, to be her support system. First she came back to the lap of luxury of Carla’s apartment, then she talked Carla into going to her house. Even then, it didn’t take her long to strike the injured pose and turn it back to being about Maria – I’m only trying to help etc.

Here’s a hint, Carla: if you need support and companionship and only have the resources in Maria’s house to find it in, pick Ozzy. I’m not much of a Lab person myself, but I think he would be much more help with getting your head screwed on straight. Maria? Kind of like having an irritating pet rock.

I saw my scene Tuesday and wrote about it. Friday put my impressions in a different perspective. So here’s both, about Carla, with observations on Friday first.

Playing with Fire

When Carla realizes she can’t go through with marrying Frank, she tries to tell him “gently”. She wishes to spare his feelings and protect her business. It doesn’t go well. She must tell him she loves Peter in order to convince him. Frank then rapes her.

Mercifully for us, they only show before and after. But it’s enough to see it was done in cold fury, not passionate anger: to debase and dominate her. Don’t mess with me, lady, he’s saying in the cruelest way there is.

He leaves her on the floor, and goes to his car where he prepares to run down Peter. It’s the same spot where he “protected” Carla by saying he’d been driving when Carla, in the same car, struck Stella. “I’ll do anything for you,” he told her at the time. She didn’t think about the flip side of such ‘devotion’.

Carla plays on the knife’s edge of attraction to “the bad boy”, wanting to exert control yet have a strong man at the same time. With Frank, it backfired in the most horrible violation of her person. No one deserves that. I hope he is caught and stopped.

Tuesday (before Frank rapes Carla)

Frank has everything a woman could want: he’s handsome, suave, has money and good taste. And, meeting Carla’s apparent tastes, he also has a strong streak of control freak and possible psychopathic tendencies. However, he is missing the one thing that is the deal breaker for her: a wife. I have wanted to write about Carla and her obsession with other women’s men for a while. She gave it to me on a silver platter Tuesday.

I like Carla. She would scare me in real life. At the safe distance of a tv screen, though, I find her complex, strong and interesting. But the little speech she gave Peter Tuesday, about how she knew he really loved her, not Leanne, because of The Kiss! Get real, lady, I said to the tv, he’s a man and he’s got a pulse. Of course he returned your kiss. He’d probably do more than that if you pull a stunt like that again. It does not mean he “loves” you or that you “love” him or that the two of you would last more than five minutes together. It means he’s a man and he’s not dead yet – that’s all!

Her unattached lovers and husbands have all been murdering lunatics with control issues, starting with Paul Connor. Her “undying love” for Paul’s brother Liam only was revealed when Liam had impregnated Maria and was marrying her. She rebounded to an unmarried man, Tony, another murdering lunatic with control issues. A quick interlude trying to mould Trevor into suave, wealthy businessman. Then bouncy bouncy to Peter who has problems saying no to pretty women. That’s how he ended up married to two of them at once.

He’s now trying to be a responsible husband and father. Just let him be. But no, she won’t until she’s managed to split him and Leanne up and cause Simon to lose another mother. Then there will be five minutes of let’s play house. If Peter continues to be “good Peter” she’ll quickly tire of him and enforced motherhood. If he goes back to “bad Peter”, she will not tolerate playing second fiddle to alcohol or other women. I actually can’t see her playing second fiddle to anything, including his son or his business. She’d have Simon packed off to boarding school and Peter as yet another “partner” in the factory. That way, she’d be in control. Until another married man crossed her path…

Back to Friday (after the rape)

I hope Maria can help Carla heal, and that they can help each other. They’ve got a lot of history for women who aren’t friends. Their recent lives are entwined through the same men. Carla should have called the police, but it’s karmically good that she called Maria.